Tuesday, March 1, 2011

10 Days ago, I drove towards the Alps for the first competition of the 2011 season, the Aeros Winter Race. Combined with some skiing and some visits to hang glider and harness manufacturers, it was quite a trip:

The conditions during the Aeros Winter Race were far from ideal. The Bora wind was blowing with local wind speed far above 100 km/h. The Lijak take-off was situated above an area which is very much protected from the Bora and allowed us to fly twice. You wouldn't think that that was possible, standing at the headquarter, which always was exposed to the wind.The first flight was really uncomfortable for me. Last year, I've constantly been searching for a better position in the Tenax harness and I ended up putting extra foam in the boot. I put in too much and ended up restricting the blood flow to my arms. And I needed my arms that flight, because it was very turbulent. That turbulent that the task was canceled. I was a passenger under my wing by that time...During the evening I removed some of the foam and elongated the shoulder straps a bit. The second flight I did not have a problem with my arms anymore, but somehow I managed to make really bad decisions and didn't even make goal on a day with many, many people on goal. Let's do better next time.It was nice to meet everyone again and fly my first thermals of 2011. I underperformed, but I had a great trip.